V Australia: PER-LON and SYD-NYC nonstop?

[Bob C]

I don't think the A380 has the range to do SYD-JFK non-stop.

[Arthur T]

Re D Chan:

1. If VA is deliberately targeting Qantas Group and that they are not hiding those attacks but announce to the media, I found Qantas Group is getting somewhat stupid in their response. V Australia is a Full Service Carrier and yet JetStar is a budget airline. JetStar's Star Class don't even have Flat Bed Business where V Australia have, and I highly doubt whether Qantas' strategy works by deploying more Jetstar service to compete with V Australia, with their Fiji and Phuket, and also increasing worry about JQ's high yield Japan service.

2.After GFC 2008, Premium travel had been hit hard. I really doubt whether any all Business/all First service will be able to continue to operate viably with an aircraft bigger than Boeing 737 or Airbus A320.

3. With the demand between London and Sydney, I can see a direct service with economy and business and first is viable, but may just yield low profit because more fuel consumption (even an additional tank required) and costs of labour. However, for V Australia a new carrier, what they should do now is to grab as many passengers as possible, so even they can only be break-even on those routes, at the end they can still get some benefits from their increased domestic service. People will take DJ instead of QF/TT/JQ/ZL domestically after their VA flight because of direct transfer or even frequent flyer points.

4. LHR - PER is not really attractive to East Coast passengers at all I believe, but it is simply VA want to start some direct flights from Australia back to the UK for marketing purposes maybe?
The real advantage for that could be prevent additional border crossing, although you don't need to enter the country in any of SIN, KUL, BKK, HKG but in case you cannot get into an immediate flight you can simply stay in somewhere you familiar (at least PER is in Australia) so that you don't need to worry about getting into trouble in another country of transit.

However, through this discussion in this thread, I would like to drop some notes to Qantas:

a. As A$ soar and we are recording a record number of Australians going overseas where the foreign visitors remain relatively constant, this year will be extremely critical for Qantas to fix their problem with International service.

b. If Qantas is not going to speed up their A380 and B737 delivery, both domestic and long haul international service will just going to be eaten even more by V Australia. If Qantas wants to survive, please speed out A380 delivery and dump all 747 into the rubbish bin as much as possible next year.

c. V Australia's B777 will continue to provide a better cabin experience and more long range, high quality service out of Australia in our near future. If Qantas is still waiting for their Boeing 787s without adding any contingent orders to cover the delay, then I would advise Qantas to shut down their International operations now to prevent any further losses.

d. Qantas should consider order more A330s and even A340s for the short term (Perhaps just lease some?) for itself rather than to Jetstar - I highly doubt the strategy of using Jetstar for V Australia in Asian/Pacific routes. V Australia is a premium carrier where Jetstar is a carrier with no free service. As what the fares V Australia can offer to Nadi and Phuket, taking Jetstar is simply a stupid idea as no one will like to pay the same price for no service on Jetstar where they can get much more free services on V Australia.

e. Qantas Mainline should immediately refurnish all A330 cabins to be identical as what is in the new Airbus A380. I think the new cabin will be able to make Qantas more comparable with V Australia.

f. Qantas should consider deploying more mainline service instead of Jetstar to Asia as well as consider use of A332 to launch more ports. Otherwise as V Australia jump in Qantas will just losing more customers.

g. Qantas must immediately include JetStar into OneWorld and to provide enhanced frequent flyer points accural programme for OneWorld members. Also Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Pacific should join OneWorld as well and to code-share all JQ, 3K & BL services with Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, British Airways and Japan Airlines also its parent Qantas. Co-sharing such will eventually lower the price from Asia to some relatively remote ports in Australia eg. ADL, PPP, DRW, HBA etc. Also more connections that passengers won't fly Qantas to Sydney then change Virgin Blue to Adelaide.

h. Qantas should consider selling its Dash and Boeing 717 and replace them with E-Jets. Most commutors prefer jet rather than tubroprop. This will enable Qantas to grasp more passengers from DJ for regional routes.

[Ash W]

Arthur, with the exception of LAX flights V Aust is not targeting Qantas in any way shape or form. They seem to be doing their own thing, which is good for them and good for the industry as a whole.

I don't think Qantas has any need to worry about V-Aust at present or into the future. Qantas will always be bigger and whilst they will compete in some markets head to head there will be others where Qantas won't care. The situation is currently a bit like the situation that exists with Virgin Atlantic and B.

As for most of your comments they are fanciful at best and plain daft at the worst.

"Qantas" is the Qantas brand premium carrier. Jetstar is the low cost carrier. I personally beleive Qantas is being smart in introducing Jetstar services on longer and longer flights, especially to holiday destinations and secondary European ports. These services are ideal for Jetstar but too costly for Qantas.

[Tim C]

Originally Posted by Gareth Forwood

However, I can't see the Perth option having a huge demand, except for those in Perth. It really doesn't bother me where I stop along the way (and I don't think many others care either), so I can't really see many people choosing the Perth stop for that reason. Perhaps I underestimate the demand for Perth residents going to Europe direct...

I think this would sell very well. Currently there is 5-6 PER-SIN flights a day on 3 different airlines, 2 daily PER-DXB flights, 2-3 PER-KL flights a day on 2 different airlines and CX, QF services PER-HKG, PER-NRT etc. A fair chunk of those pax would be connecting to Europe.

It is 5.5 hours to SIN and then 13 to heathrow. So a 16 hour direct flight would sell very very well imo it is a shorter journey which is a big plus. Will be interesting to see what happens if it happens.

Cheers

[Gerald A]

I would use the SYD-JFK if it happens. It would be a route that would take me straight to my destination in the UK with 1 stop.

[Bob C]

I don't think the B777-300 has the range for SYD-JFK non stop whereas the B777-200LR would according to the brochure.

SQ used A345s on the world's longest non stop flight from SIN to JFK (15,349 kms over the North Pole) so perhaps A345s may also be an option for anyone considering SYD-JFK which is nearly 700kms longer at 16,013 kms.

Too long for me !

[Anthony T]

Brett is popping into TLS on his way home from a airplane buying trip.

You never know what he might pick up at the airport there.

[Marty H]

He may just be teasing them by standing at the door waving a Boeing flag

[Mick F]

I would advise Qantas to shut down their International operations now to prevent any further losses

LMAO!!! LMAO!!!

Ohhhhh dear, . Sorry buddy, I just can't stop laughing at your whole post.

Very fanciful indeed.

Mick

[Andrew P]

it was 11.14pm post, maybe Mr J Walker helped with the contents